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Friday, January 21, 2011

What Are You Packing?

I've said it often and I still mean it. Electricians tools in an uncontrolled space are useless. It would take a good deal of shielding to impress me with an EMF meter or even a thermometer.

I say that since humans are the ones witnessing ghostly encounters, we are the best barometers. I am finding myself less and less utilizing this tool belt I'm wearing the picture above and going for some very basic items like a flashlight and a compass.

Not much else really interests me in the K-II, EMF meter, thermometer, audio recorder--receivers are notoriously corrupted. Even cameras, as desperately as we want to capture something, aren't going to be worth much. Don't even get me started on ghost boxes, Frank's boxes or any other device that runs through frequencies to capture random words.

The truth is, we don't know what the paranormal is comprised of and we have no idea how to go about weighing and measuring it. Electrician's tools are not the answer, unless you want to find out if a house has shitty wiring. Ouija boards and mediums have not proved consistent either. Is it physical? Is it spiritual? Is it mental? We still don't know after centuries of attempts to gain headway.

So, on the next hunt, instead of staring down at a meter all the time, I will actually be present to witness. The EMF meter and thermometer are the cell phone distraction devices of ghost hunting. Be present. Be alert. Be open. Be inviting.

Yes, on the next hunt, I'm going to go bare. Now, don't you want to see that picture?

23 comments:

CAMB; I have to say that it takes a lot of courage to sit through a hunt without the usual tools. They are great distractions and we really think that we're capturing something, but no meter can tell you if a ghost is present, your body tells you. You leave the site with a lot of anecdotal stories of what you experienced, but no equipment yet can accurately capture proof. I'm at the time in my hunting where I'm taking notes, looking for what instigates it, what factors are present, if it's repeatable, if it's intelligent and that takes interaction. I am working on a book called Spirit Vessels that explains some of the necessary elements to a good haunted building.

Unablogger;I'm guessing that's a yes for me doing a pic of me hunting bare. Well, I'm going on a hunt at the end of the month. We'll have to see what I can do.

Barry;You cannot undo that vision of Steampunk Palin you put on your Gnostalgia blog. It will not leave my head. I am ruined for life! That said, clear undies are a good idea. I like mine to be thong, preferably peach; it's my best color.

The notion of 'less is more' is a double-edged sword. On one hand, you're losing some concrete recording ability. On the other, you might be on the right track towards enhancing your sensory abilities.

While you might get more response with fewer gadgets, you're also less likely to get tangible results.

But hey, we're talking about ghost hunting here. Tangibility varies from case to case (and person to person) and 'proof' means something a little different to everybody.

Bubba;You are a bright boy! Yes! For all the years of recording and photographing I have nothing that would move anyone to believe otherwise if they do or don't believe already. Ben Hansen and I discussed this and it's true; video can convince people of paranormal totally or make them dig their heels in that it's too easy to fake. So, my goal is not to prove to anyone ghosts exist. I am looking for furthering the field. That means good observation, looking for ripe conditions, repeatability, how to instigate it, how to predict it's next move, looking for patterns. That would take a long-time study in one location to do it any real good. Someone please talk to the cable channels. We seriously need my dream project to come true, the details of which I will only divulge to the powers that be.

Okay, looks like Julie and I will go bare for our next hunt on the 30th. Expect pics.

Ya gotta have something with you to record, well, something! LOL I mean, I know what you can do and what you can see and what your talents are as far as picking up on things, but without something recorded (insert piece of equipment here) all we have is your word! I'll take your word, but not everyone will! Boo! LOLOL

You'll find it's very liberating to just experience the encounter. If you're living in an active place, you might find that moments of extreme anger, sadness and joy with laughter are sparking events. If one person is having a lot of extreme emotions, they might also get more encounters which makes me wonder if there is something we put off when we're upset or really happy that is attractive in some way.

Oh aye definetly want to see that picture.lol.I always loved ghosts and all things supernatural as a kid.(Scooby was my favourite cartoon.lol).I really wanted to see a ghost,tried to be 'open' to it,visited apparently haunted places but nothing.I remember many people sharing that interest who claimed they could feel and see a presence."Can't you see it,feel it - it's over there in the corner watching us !!!!"But inevitably as much as I wanted to I felt absolutely nothing and to be honest came to the conclusion that these 'sensitives' were attention seekers,by the time I was in my mid 20's I'd come to the firm conclusion that there were no ghosts,could never feel them so no longer had any belief in them.So when I did finally come into contact with some serious paranormal phenomena it was what I felt,the fact that no matter what way I looked at it there was absolutely no rational explanation I could find to explain what was happening.It was my own senses and logic that made me realise I had seen,felt and experience the paranormal and would now trust them far more than any gizmo !!!

Besides,who came up with the idea that ghosts are/use electromagnetic energy and what is the basis for this theory cos I've heard it talked about,accepted as fact but is it actually a fact ??

BadPenny;You are a brilliant person. I wish I could give everyone that defining moment where all their logic falls apart because they cannot explain away something that cannot exist! My son had such an experience and he's a die-hard atheist and nonbeliever, but what he encountered and with someone else who encountered it with him shook his world. I am a very logic-minded person and in fact did not believe in psychic skills until I encountered the unbelievable and gave psychic reads with such detailed and insane accuracy that it scared me more than the people I read. I still can't explain it, but I want to understand it and the only way to do that is to understand that spiritualists and modern day ghost hunters know jack shit. We need to be good observers, to note patterns from geomagnetic activity, solar storms, geology, construction of the building, emotional content of the living inside the building and every other freaking element that may help us understand what activates it and eventually what it takes to predict it or make it show at will. I envy the history land you live in. Here in the desert southwest, there is plenty of hard living and indian cultures that went missing over time for no apparent reason, but I believe the very buildings in your land make wonderful conduits and I hope to cover that in my book I'm writing about spirit vessels. Ancients understood their stones.

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About Me

I am a paranormal investigator who grew up in a Civil War field hospital where many unexplainable occurrences changed the course of my life. I spent my childhood digging up relics and helping my mother to uncover the history of the estate. A respect for man's history, archaeology and a curiosity about the unexplained universe rule my passion for my study and my theories on this site. The goal of this blog is to open minds and get people excited to seek that which they cannot explain. Career: Oil industry, stock trading, author.

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